Abstract:The exponential development of information technology has presented many opportunities to organizations; however, it has also presented several challenges. A key challenge is how do organizations effectively use information technology and incorporate it into their strategies to make full use of its capabilities as an enabler. The fast-changing nature of information technology has resulted in little empirical evidence on how it influences organization strategy. The Strategic Alignment Model was a popular model created to assist organizations to align their information technology and their business strategy; however, the growth of technology may have made this model irrelevant in this age. Therefore, organizations need to determine what factors drive this alignment. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, 12 in-depth interviews were conducted within IBM South Africa to determine real-life drivers that help create this alignment. The themes derived from the interview texts reveal that consumers are becoming more empowered; therefore, organizations need to be more flexible in their business models and strategies. Furthermore, the integration of cross-functional roles in the organization at the management level allow for improved alignment between information technology and strategy as better integrated roles bring a combination of these two elements.

This study evaluated the relationship between inflation and infrastructure sector stock returns in emerging markets in the long and short run. It employed a panel autoregressive distributed lag (PARDL) model applying the mean group (MG), pooled mean group (PMG) and dynamic fixed effects (DFE) estimators after preliminary cross-sectional dependence and stationarity tests. The results from the three estimators were insignificant in both the short and long run, illustrating the inability of infrastructure sector returns in emerging markets to hedge inflation. Similar results were obtained when the inflation-hedging capacity of real estate and general listed equity was assessed. This suggests the existence of significant beta risk in emerging stock markets. The results imply that investors interested in hedging inflation in emerging markets should go beyond individual asset classes and embrace the portfolio optimization concept to reduce inflation risk. Given the heterogenic nature of the infrastructure sector, a deeper analysis that focuses on infrastructure sector sub-categories might be fruitful as the pricing power is heterogeneous across these sub-sectors.

This paper investigates if there is a relationship between managerial ownership and firm performance in selected firms listed on the JSE, and if so, what that relationship is. The study conducts regression analyses over a sample of 23 retail sector firms, observing data stretching from 2010 to 2013. The results are found to be robust. The results suggest that the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between managerial ownership and performance be rejected as a negative relationship is found. Instead, the results of a two-stage least squares (2SLS) analysis find that managerial ownership does not impact firm performance in any direction. Overall the results of the study do not support the agency theory, as aligning the interests of managers and shareholders does not improve firm performance, at least within the retail sector

This study seeks to establish the relationship between carbon emissions, agricultural output and industrial output in South Africa. It uses data from 1960 to 2017 based on an annual frequency, giving a total of 58 annual observations. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag technique is employed to estimate the model on a bivariate basis. The evidence shows that carbon emissions are not influenced by agricultural and industrial output. Conversely, agricultural output is influenced by carbon emissions and industrial output. The results suggest that climate change resulting from carbon emissions has led to reduced agricultural output, adversely affecting food security. The significant relationship between industrial and agricultural output suggests that a properly functioning industrial sector will cause an increase in the agricultural output. The study’s findings have implications for climate change and manufacturing policies in South Africa.

Background: Global concerns about financial literacy have heightened following the 2007-2008 global financial crisis during which it became apparent that lack of financial literacy was one of the factors that contributed to detrimental financial decision making. This recognition shows that poor financial decisions have a harmful overspill impact on financial and economic stability in a country. Complex financial markets call for exceptional levels of financial competence to enable individuals and business people to make intelligent choices among competing financial products. The study was conducted in two provinces of Zimbabwe, namely, Harare and Mashonaland Central Province among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who were in operation. Aim:The study sought to ascertain the level of financial literacy among SMEs business owners and to identify factors that influence the financial literacy levels. The research will give an insight on the state of preparedness of SMEs to participate in highly complicated financial markets. This adds to the existing scarce literature in sub-Saharan Africa on financial literacy levels among SMEs. Setting:The study was conducted among SMEs who reside in two provinces of Zimbabwe namely Harare Province and Mashonaland Central province.Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional research design was employed, with data collected by means of a questionnaire administered to a sample of 384 SMEs in Harare and Bindura districts.Results: Findings revealed lower levels of financial literacy among SMEs. The main variables influencing financial literacy levels were interest rates and inflation. Conclusion:The study concludes that financial literacy among SMEs is low, and hence there is a need to introduce financial literacy education among small business owners. It is recommended that measurement of financial literacy be extended to different population cohorts to provide baseline data on which policies can be crafted.

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This paper investigates the major determinants of non-performing loans in the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) economies. Identifying major determinants of non-performing loans, which are observed to be growing in these countries in recent time, will also guide policy and forecasting future levels that will be useful for pre-emptive policies and actions. It uses static panel data and dynamic panel model analyses. Evidence suggests that in the four economies, capital adequacy ratio, liquidity ratio, total bank credit andreturn on assets are significant bank-specific determinants of non-performing loans. Also, while the return on assets, liquidity ratio and capital adequacy ratioshow a negative and significant relationship with non-performing loans, nominal exchange rate, money supply growth rate, total bank credit and lending rate show positive and very significant relationships with non-performing loans. Finally, corruption, an institutional variable, shows a very strong positive relationship with non-performing loans.